One of my favorite all-time films is David Lean’s 1962 masterpiece, Lawrence of Arabia. The factual accuracy of this work may be questionable, but the depiction of Colonel T.E. Lawrence’s exploits in the Arabian Desert during World War One left an indelible impression on my mind: I wanted to explore the subject further. I began to study the great war against the Ottoman Empire, and the subsequent creation of artificial “spheres of influence” by France and Great Britain. I began to realize that a direct relationship exists between U.S. troops fighting and dying in Iraq today, and the political aftermath of World War I in the Middle East.

The idea for the documentary, Blood and Oil, occurred to me about three years ago. While many outstanding programs about the Great War have already been produced, they usually focus on the Western Front and the terrible waste of humanity in the trenches of France. When fighting in the Middle East is mentioned, the Gallipoli campaign – and the exploits of Lawrence in the Arab Revolt – are the main topics covered.

However, the Middle East struggle takes in an expansive and complex theater of operations, ranging from the Dardanelles Straits to the oil fields in Baku, on the Caspian Sea. The battles – military and political – feature several intriguing key players: Turkish Minister of War Enver Pasha, British General Edmund Allenby, German General Liman von Sanders, Arabian Prince Feisal, and Turkish General Mustafa Kemal. The Ottoman Empire became the target of invasion not only by the British, but also French, Russian, Greek and Armenian forces. While desperately fighting off the invasion at Gallipoli, the Ottoman Army also faced Russian invaders from the east, and British-East Indian troops in both Palestine and Iraq. How the Turks – with fewer men, artillery and resources – managed to hold out over four years of intensive combat is truly a remarkable story.

When the battles stopped on the Western Front in November 1918, the war in the Middle East went on – another four years of brutal combat, fought in temperatures ranging from 150 degrees in Iraq to 30 degrees below zero in the Caucasus. A Turkish nationalist movement, led by Mustafa Kemal, rejected the Anglo-French plan to carve up the Ottoman Empire among themselves and their allies. A new Turkish Army rose from the ashes of defeat. First, it drove Armenian forces out of eastern Turkey, then turned back French and Armenian troops in the south. Finally, Kemal launched a counter-offensive against a Greek Army invading from the west – all of this, while Europe began to recover in its newfound peace.

Turkey fought back to reclaim its homeland, much to the surprise of Europe. But France and Great Britain found other lands to dominate with post-war politics. New nations were created, their borders dictated by European greed for land and oil. Without much regard for the region’s history, culture, religion and ethnicity, artificial states emerged: Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. These “nations” secured the interests of France and Great Britain, but not the interests of the Muslim inhabitants: Sunnis, Shias, Arabs and a host of others.

Thus, the stage was set for political instability and violent struggle in the Middle East that continues to the present day. Western interests continue to collide with Muslim factions that are fueled by hatred toward the West. It is difficult to ignore some parallels between the distant and recent past. Places such as Basra, Baghdad, Mosul and Gaza are the scenes of struggle and foreign occupation, just as they were nine decades ago. The civil war that now rages in Iraq is reminiscent of Muslim revolts against British troops in 1920, and again in 1925.

The West continues to intervene in the Middle East, to support friendly governments and ensure the flow of oil to European and U.S. economies. Most recently, the United States sent troops to Iraq, but the same thing happened back in November 1914. When Britain declared war against the Ottoman Empire, the very first thing it did was to land troops near Basra to protect the oil fields in nearby Iran. Later in the war, the British captured Mosul – just as U.S. forces did in 2003 – to make certain that rich Iraqi oil reserves were covered by the Union Jack.

To understand more clearly as to why the Middle East remains embroiled in strife, we only need to examine the historical record. Blood and Oil chronicles the immensity of a horrific military struggle and its tremendous impact on the entire world. The seeds of discontent in the Middle East were sown 90 years ago, via military conquest and political domination from Europe. Unfortunately, those seeds have grown into a fearful harvest that continues to feed radicals, fanatics and terrorists in the Muslim World.